Ween Strikes Back With 'La Cucaracha'

Ween has penciled in an Oct. 23 release date for "La Cucaracha," its first studio album in four years and its debut for Rounder Records. The set will be supported by an extensive fall tour, beginning Oct. 16 in Bloomington, Ind., and running into December.

"La Cucaracha" was recorded with longtime producer Andrew Weiss at a converted farmhouse in Pennsylvania. It opens with the horn-heavy instrumental "Fiesta," which has been a part of Ween's recent live shows, and closes with another road-tested track, "Your Party," which boasts a guest turn by jazz saxophonist David Sanborn.

"I love David Sanborn," guitarist Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo tells Billboard.com. "We always said, we're never going to have horns on a Ween record, unless we can get David Sanborn. That has been the thing for 15 years. So we called him, and his people told us, 'David is too busy.' But then we get a call back saying, 'David is a really big fan of the band.' We were like, 'F*ck yeah, that's amazing.' So we sent it to him and he did it and it rules."

Other album tracks include the back-porch country jam "Learnin to Love," the gruff, Melchiondo-sung "My Own Bare Hands," the nearly 11-minute rocker "Woman and Man" and "Spirit Walker," a prog-rock homage with disorienting vocal effects and noises. The set also sports a different version of "Friends" than the techno-fueled take which appeared on the recent EP of the same name.

---

1. Fiesta 2:13
2. Blue Balloon 3:51
3. Friends 4:06
4. Object 2:36
5. Learnin' to Love 2:24
6. With My Own Bare Hands 2:46
7. The Fruit Man 4:00
8. Spirit Walker 3:21
9. Shamemaker 2:38
10. Sweetheart 3:15
11. Lullaby 3:20
12. Woman and Man 10:48
13. Your Party 4:08

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VKJ6PY/?tag=imwan-20

I will say it now, and say it loud-WEEN RULE!
I've been waiting for this for quite some time.

Misgivings about the Friends EP aside (those misgivings come to naught when you consider what chameleons the Brothers Ween are), I am really looking forward to this.

The [lilred]Friends[/lilred] CD EP referred to above is going into general domestic release via the Chocodog label ...



2007 EP from the eccentric Rock duo, their first all-new studio recordings since 2003's Quebec. It's always a time for celebration when Ween put out a new release and even a five track EP deserves it's own party!. So, put your hands in the air and say 'Hello and welcome back!' to Dean and Gene Ween. All five tracks on this EP are exclusive and will not appear on any of their albums. Features: the Techno-friendly 'Friends', 'I Got To Put The Hammer Down', 'King Billy', the Santana send-up 'Light Me Up' and 'Slow Down Boy'.

1. Friends
2. I Got To Put The Hammer Down
3. King Billy
4. Light Me Up
5. Slow Down Boy

This is being released at a domestic price on May 13th, but Amazon's third party dealers have plenty of even cheaper copies of the original import and website pressing already available at the same listing page:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SBZ4NE/?tag=imwan-20

Allow me to eat a bug on my previous post! The Friends EP definitely grew on me.